This is a story about how I came to be involved in Wikipedia and how I became a critic. It’s a story about hope and friendship and failure, and what to do afterwards. In many ways this story represents the relationship that many others like me have had with the Internet: a story about enormous hope and enthusiasm followed by disappointment and despair. Although similar, the uniqueness of these stories is in the final act – the act where I tell you what I now think about the future of the Internet after my initial despair. This is my Internet love story in four acts: 1) Seeing the light 2) California rulz 3) Doubting Thomas 4) Critics unite. Heather's talk was filmed at Stage@Leeds as part of the TEDx University of Leeds conference. Heather Ford has worked as a researcher, blogger, activist and strategist around issues of internet governance, online collaboration and open access for organisations including Creative Commons, iCommons, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Ushahidi and the Association for Progressive Communications. After finishing her PhD at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Heather was appointed as the Digital Methods Fellow at Leeds University’s School of Media and Communication. Dr Ford's current research interests include issues around the governance of digital platforms, media power in networked information environments, and the design and politics of software platforms. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx